First Choral Ode Summary

The Chorus sings a hymn denouncing Pentheus as a blasphemer and extolling the virtues of simple living. Dionysus is praised as the god that brings wine and plenty that "cures [the] grief" of both the rich and the poor.

First Choral Ode Analysis

Usually, the Chorus of a Greek play does not take sides, but this Chorus is not objective. This chorus consists of those devotees who have followed Dionysus from Persia into Thebes. By making even the Chorus take sides, Euripides seems to suggest that to ignore the divine is indeed folly.